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27 August 2010

It appears as time passes I am getting better at, well, life. I can semi-cook now since leaving home, I can... umm... hmm... it appears there isn't many examples where I have improved haha. Well anyways you get my drift, anyone in their early 20's surely could agree =P

Currently we are in August, that means the time is very near where University comes to an end and we are blessed with the best time of year, the summer holidays! Man I cannot wait =D This happens every single year, the intense grip of Melbourne (Australia) winter starts to loose it's strength, days where a jumper is optional rather then a survival requirement become more frequent, the sun starts to shine, there is a crisp feeling in the air, life just seems better =)

And every year as the sun starts to shine my spirit levels soar.

Anyways back to the premise of this post. Every year Melbourne hosts a plethora of day long music festivals, one of which is Soundwave. The play list of this particular festival is just epic and has been every year, although you'd think by the way in which I speak of it that I am a long time attendee? Well... you'd be mistaken haha. As it was documented nearly a year from now ago I was stupid enough to miss out on Soundwave tickets last time.

Ha oh geez... that post was written almost a year ago and just re-reading it again made me laugh.

"You'd think I'd be organized and get what I can only assume to be a crucial item for my Soundwave experience... the fucking tickets!!! Now they are sold out! Argghhh!!!" - The reaction from last years Soundwave mishap haha.

Alas as the now somewhat distant first line of this post would suggest this year I managed to get my stuff together for a change and managed to get myself tickets. Woo! I am learning after all it would seem. I even surprised myself by going so far as to sign up and buy them at the pre-sale! Although that could also be out of paranoia of repeating last years mistakes ha.

To add further evidence that I am in fact getting better at this thing called life, I managed to get 3 of my best mates organized and got them tickets at the pre-sale also... sweet. What an epic time to look forward to =)

This years line up (while not as awesome as last years that had Taking Back Sunday and Paramore playing, both whom I would of killed to see...) is still rather epic. One of my most highly anticipated is the legendary Rob Zombie! I have loved this guy for ages now, songs like Dragula, Superbeast, Scum of the Earth are just the absolute best when pumped up loud.

24 August 2010

What an epic few days, I can't believe I put myself through such turmoil that can so easily be avoided haha. For those of you who would like to start this immense, passionate, heart breaking and simply amazing story from the beginning, please start from Part One.

Hmm, I should probably label this under my 'Fame' tag, as I am sure this documentary will be picked up by a TV network any day now.

Anyways, onwards to the rest of this story! I would of typed it in real-time as I did with parts one and two but fatigue was at a high and time was of too little thus it had to wait until the following day alas it brings us to 4.37pm Tuesday. A solid 17 hours after the report was due.

So, how did it go? Wow, looking back now at part two things were not looking good ha! I hated having to drive back to University after dinner... my mind and body were absolutely exhausted.

The verdict which I am sure you are all desperately waiting for...

...

*drum roll music*

...

Actually scrap that, let's get some battle music from Lord of the Rings!

Singing over text is quite difficult... throw some imagination at it I am sure you can make it work =P

...

At 1.03am, after spending 13 hours in total at University... I managed to hand it in at an awesome 3,771 words! Woo! I cannot believe I pulled it off! What a ridiculous day, easily one of my more trying in recent memory. It was 1 hour late but whatever, I wrote in the submission comments section a plea in the hope that I don't get a late submission penalty... which I better not, it would be pretty lame if the teacher was that strict.

The feeling of having it completed is just amazing, a huge weight lifted upon me.

Lately I have cut my work days from 3 to 2 for about a month or so so I can focus on my Uni work a little more. I have a little breather with my next major assignment not due for another 5 weeks. Ha, could we be seeing a sequel to "Procrastination" perhaps!

Probably...

In honesty though, and not that I can accurately say as I am yet to re-read the report since I submitted it (and at 1am last night my mind was so messed up I really couldn't understand anything I was reading)... but I do get the sense that it is one of the best reports I have ever written =)

Do I work great under pressure or am I just a lucky fool? =P

...

This concludes the epic three part Blogspot series, Procrastination. There will no doubt be a sequel (or three) in the near future, so stay tuned!

*imagine the voice of David Attenborough*
"Today, we would like to welcome you to Part Two of the brilliant Blogspot series... Procrastination. Yesterday we witnessed an amazing display of pure lack of willpower, lazyness and just general stupidity that our fascinating Human subject can bare. In my 35 years of watching, studying and analyzing the behavior of creatures from all over the world I have never seen anything quite so remarkable. So I welcome you to join us for what day two might have in store."

Well I am hope you enjoyed that introduction by the legendary David Attenborough (although he exaggerated with those adjectives if you ask me), let's bring you up to speed shall I. It is currently 12.44pm Monday, I have been at Uni since 10.45am... in that time I have bought some lunch, waited in line at the ATM, chatted on Gchat to Martyn and Sabrina, read the news and emails of the day and then ran into my friends Mark and Kathy and chatted to them for a while. A productive day!

To start from the beginning of this documentary please begin at part one here =)

We start the day at 477 words, the report is due midnight tonight... I have 11 hours to go... lets go!

...

Currently 2.34pm, if you include the references in the word count, which I am, I have 847 words! (Note without references only 505). Since then I found my friend Dan who I haven't seen in ages so there was a brief chat with him, as well as, and this part is highly important to the process of any work, setting up a music list to listen to! I could feel the productivity levels increasing as Taking Back Sunday - One Eighty by Summer was played on a loop 5 times over =)

...

3.54pm... damn I am so hungry... why don't I ever think to bring food with me? Well Dan and our friend Jess have left now so distractions have dropped for the time being, leaving me to type out some solid word amounts in the last 30 minutes. I am now at an impressive total of 1,152 words... nearly half way! By my calculations I have roughly 8 hours until the report is due... wow that seems like such a long time now that I think about it. Not in the sense of 'oh wow, 8 hours, I have plenty of time...'. More in the sense of 'I know I am going to be here to at least 11.55pm... that means 8 more hours sitting here'.

Well, it wouldn't be a documentary about procrastination if I wasn't procrastinating! And don't you worry, I'll procrastinate like the best of them!

Time for lunch!

...

Alright I am back from lunch... throat is killing me... that sausage roll was ridiculously hot but it was taking too long to cool down so I ate it anyway. It is currently 5.32pm with my current word count totally 1,447 which is actually pretty good (keeping in mind that is including references). Another 1,500 or so and I'll be set... sigh. Moral is definitely starting to fade about now... the library is barren (I enjoy it when there are other people working late around me). The problem with this specific report unlike others I have done in the past is that it is about a topic I know very little about. Usually when I have been in times like this I can pump out around 1000 words an hour easy just off the top of my head... this time I actually need to sit down and look at my reference material to find stuff to write (as opposed to my usual technique of writing the whole thing and then gathering reference material so it looks like I did some research).

6 hours before the deadline, lets see what happens!

...

9.33pm...

Errgghh....

I don't even know how many words I currently have... or how many words I have to go. My eyes are too tired to comprehend the screen anymore. I went home at 8pm, by bus, to have dinner with the intent of finishing the rest of this at home. Problem was I got home, ate dinner, watched an episode of Dexter with my housemates (they are up to season 4, I know what happens at the end as I've watched it before but seeing the season again is bringing back memories of that completely unnecessary season ending!) then realized my laptop doesn't have Microsoft Word... yay go me.

Sigh... so I drove myself back to Uni, hence that is my current location at the moment as I sit in one of the 24 hour computer labs filled with the freakiest and shadiest looking Uni students I have ever seen.

I am completely running out of things so write in my report... soon I would of been at University for 12 hours... 12 hours! Must... press... on...

...

That brings us to the end of days Procrastination. The results? Did I manage to write the required 3000 words? Did I hand it in on time? What time did I get home? Did Brittany Spears learn how to sing? Who died in Home and Away this week?

All will be revealed in part three of 'Procrastination"! (Which I will write tomorrow because I am ridiculously tired to do now ha...ha...zzzzz....)

22 August 2010

I work ridiculously slow at whatever work I do... I don't know why. Well, I guess that is a lie, I know exactly why haha. Hence this very instance as a perfect example where I am typing up this post whilst at the University library where I am meant to be writing my 3000 word report that is due tomorrow... oh and don't forget that I wrote the previous post today as well, again whilst at the University while I am meant to be writing the 3000 word report that is due tomorrow.

In an effort to procrastinate (well, not that it is an effort, but whatever), I would like to take my procrastination even further by taking the time to document my procrastination.

Genius isn't it!

So, let's start from the beginning. I have a report due on Monday (tomorrow) that I had completely forgotten about and only remembered it a few days ago (Thursday to be exact). It is a 3000 word literature review about a topic I have no interest in (data mining for you IT savvy readers). Since the remembrance I have spent all day Friday working on it... meaning I took the day off work, went into Uni at 10am and left at 6pm... and managed to write 157 words. Woo go me!

Yeah... that is pretty bad...

Anyways, I was going to spend all day Saturday (yesterday) working on it as well but... crazy stuff happened Friday night which meant I wasn't able to work the next day. Alas we arrive at today... it is currently 4.34pm to be exactly and I have been here since 11.30am. Tabbing across to my report now I have... wait for it... wait for it!

...363 words!

"Ceellllibrate good times, come on!"

What have I done all day? Or, to elaborate... what did I do all day Friday and all day today that has lead me to that grand total of 363 words? I have NO idea! It just disappears... well I guess writing blogs doesn't help.

Or does it?

I'd like to argue that writing blogs helps with my... writing.. skills. Writing skills are needed when writing reports, yes? There we go, consider this practice. Still... writing blogs doesn't get literature reviews written... I guess. Meh, life goes on. Anyways, the library is about to close in 15minutes (as the automated announcement over the PA system insists on reminding me...) so I have prepared this blog for tomorrow so I can document my progress... or lack of.

Tune in tomorrow for more exciting "Procrastination" - The Documentary!

I am an avid reader of anything whether it be theories about general relativity on Wiki, the latest breakthroughs in the world of science on NewScientist.com, the latest in the news on news.com.au, research for my Thesis, and of course blogs.

And when I am not on a computer, I go through a yearly cycle of being obsessed with books for a while then never touching one for months at a time. I am currently in my obsessed stage and simply can't get enough of it so as you can guess, this post is about books. And yeah... I am extremely bored at Uni while I am meant to be writing a report... but just can't bring myself to do it so I decided to write this post instead ha.

Let us begin.

In the last few months I have read a few new, completely random books of which I would never normally read. I'd like to throw in my summary of what I thought of the book overall, without giving away what the story is about that is. You'll just have to read them for yourself =P

-Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris
Before even going into this book I already had a general idea of what this story was going to be about, but thankfully there was quite a few important details that were new to me so the book was still an enjoyable read, mostly. The story was indeed pretty awesome, Thomas Harris goes to great length painting the scene and does so quite well, at times I really did feel like I was living within the snowy west Germany World War II era country side that the story takes place in. One of my favourite aspects of the book was how the characters were depicted, I found that unlike countless stories and movies I digest I actually felt a connection with Hannibal (the main character) and could agree with his reasoning behind his actions.

Although on the downside the language and writing style present I found to be quite cryptic, at times I could go nearly an entire chapter only scarcely understanding what is going on and why. Also to add, the end third had a bit too much of a James Bond feel than I would of liked, overall it was an alright read.

-Alchemist by Peter James
This book was amazing!.. between pages 1 to 450 out of the total 530 or so that is... sigh. The story was incredible, constantly conjuring questions that I just had to know the answers to kept me reading hordes of chapters each sitting. Every time you think you've figured something out or have an idea on where the story is heading... bam!, something completely unexpected and intriguing (my favourite aspect) happens and you have to view the entire story at a completely new angle.

The best part of all was the constant climactic slope the book travels along, reading it felt like an awakening volcano, the pressure climbing, the heat rising. The entire time I had the sense that at any turn of the page the story was about to explode into chaos. The pieces of the puzzle constantly falling into place, the long drawn out plans ready to deploy, the unknown questions about to become answered... then pow!, there were car chases, plane trips across the Atlantic, lives in danger! Were the main characters I had grown quite fond of going to prevail, were they even going to live!? All these long weeks I am finally going to discover what everything means!

...only to find that the ending made absolutely no sense and left story wide open with core questions unanswered...

Sigh!

-Rangers Apprentice by Jon Flanagan
This is apparently a 9 part series and alas I have only read book 1 thus far but I am confident that I get the general idea. A rather typical underdog-boy-defies-odds-to-become-great-warrior-in-time-for-the-impending-doom-that-will-threaten-the-world-as-we-know-it story... which I am a sucker for so I was happy to give it a go =P

However the book was filed under 'young adult', something you could understand from the language and the tone the story took. The book was well written, there wasn't any fancy paragraphs or over descriptive scenes (I find redundant sentences frustrating), my gripe however is that the mood of the story was far to 'light' for my liking, everything just seemed to 'work out' for the characters. I got the same level of adrenaline out of the 'intense' scenes of battle as I did for when they were eating supper... which is to say low to none.

An awesome book (series) for younger readers.

-Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
This guy is one of my life idols (but I will refrain from dwelling on that fact... for now). While not a 'story' by any means it is much rather a thought provoking philosophy on some of the fascinating things about life and the inter-connectivity within it between humans. In this particular book (he currently has 4) he talks about the ideas and forces of what makes something an international market hit and what does not. Those times when, for reasons unknown, a product,service, location... such as a certain type of shoe or a certain chain of stores, all of a sudden (it would appear) becomes 'trendy' and the 'must have' of the time.

Is it just the fact that the product is good? If that was the case there are countless products that should be a huge hit but are not, while other products are bestsellers of their field. The 'Tipping Point' of when something goes from unknown to the norm, and more importantly (and interestingly) the how and why, is discussed in absolutely stunning and highly impressive detail, this is a book that goes beyond the ordinary.

A fantastic read for anyone who likes the more intellectual aspects of life.

-Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Absolutely hilarious from start to...nearly finish as I haven't quite finished it hehe. This book has had me cracking up laughing whilst reading it within a crowded bus far too many times to remember... embarrassing times I made add too. (I believe I have become known to my fellow frequent bus commuters as 'that weird guy who laughs and smiles to himself' hehe).

There have been times I have had to put the book down for a moment so I can compose myself because I was laughing so hard I couldn't read the words anymore. This book is just epic, to put it simply. Whilst I am currently only half way through the book my favourite scene thus far has been on page 203 in regards to the 'state of the art' Wasabi automobile owned by Newt. When you read it I am sure you will agree =P

Funny stuff indeed, reading it puts me in a good mood every time.

Alas, that is all the books I have had times for over the last few months... far too busy with my Honours research to be reading as much as I would like, although I can feel the obsession slipping lately so I doubt I will be reading anything again for some time.

15 August 2010

The premise of my story today is about the times when you meet/see someone and for reasons unknown they immediately just grab your attention in every way, leaving you slightly transfixed over their existence. And no I am not talking as superficial as physical appearance or their choice in music (although I am sure that does count some of the time), I am talking about them as a whole. Their walk, their smile, the way they think and converse, it could be their moral compass or outlook on the world/life that draws you in, maybe it is the fact that they are good at what they do, someone you can draw inspiration from perhaps. I am sure that this happens all the time to everyone, I myself admire my Honours supervisor at Uni immensely based on many variables.

My point however is the times when this, connection if you will, happens instantly at merely a glance. Again I reiterate that I don't simply mean physical attraction, something beyond that, something you can't really put your finger on. Somehow catching your attention even through a crowded room, leaving them imprinted on your mind for days after.

This occurrence happened to me a few days ago and to no surprise they have been on my mind ever since.

Last weekend I was working at my University helping out with their public Uni Open Day event, showing the people around, giving out course information and so on, and out of no where I see this girl standing at one of the stands. Now being a busy day there was obviously 100's of good looking girls around but for some reason my attention was immediately caught on this one in particular. Not because of her physical looks (although she was very beautiful), there was just something... 'fun' about her that just hooked me in. I think at the sight of her I even smiled, no idea why. Noticing her t-shirt I could tell she was also a Uni Open Day helper, perfect, that means she will be here all day, I'll have to go chat to her as soon as I can.

Long story short the day was so busy I didn't get to talk to her... but as fate would have it (which seems to define my life this year) a chance to talk to her appeared a mere 3 days later, again as I was helping out at an Uni run event. To add even more fate driven coincidences to the mix she wasn't just working at the same event, we were working together on the same project...scary I know =P.

I played it casual throughout the day, it was surprisingly easy to chat to her as she was such a cool person. I had heaps of fun working with her, made her laugh quite a lot which was good, I even helped gain her a very strong possibility of getting a summer internship at a very prominent IT company.

It appeared my initial vibe of her being fun was justified, she was just was much fun in person too!

Alas the day ended and we went our separate ways, becoming Facebook friends (the new modern way to go from stranger to acquaintance it appears) and yep... that's about it. Turns out she is taken anyways, but even just becoming friends would be cool. I've considered chatting to her via Facebook with a hopeful 'I'm just being friendly I am not trying to hit on you' intention... but I don't know, that feels a little weird to me (with 'stalkerish' coming to mind also)... or is that perfectly fine? Who knows, you readers can answer that for me.

I think I'd prefer talking to someone new in person anyways.

So while it was awesome to meet her and actually get to spend some time with her, to go from stranger catching my attention in a crowded room for unknown reasons to being able to spend time with them to finding out they are indeed an awesome person, I just can't help but wonder if something is supposed to come out of these chance meetings?

Or on the other hand, that it would be a waste for something not to come out of it?

This kind of thing has happened to me a few times over the years, I still remember a very special girl I met once many years ago who I only spent 1 day with and have never seen nor heard from again. I still think about her every now and again, it was a similar situation to the one I just explained above. (She even named my car on that day hehe, I proudly stick with the name even today in her memory).

Oh well, I guess it is just all coincidence and we should just keep these moments locked away as a fond memory. A reminder that there are some truly amazing people out there.

09 August 2010

I was going to post yet another one of my pointless posts but something far greater and more respectable than myself came to my attention.

Just stopping by one of the blogs I follow I came across this sad post on The Gravel Farm, something that has made me stop and think and in truthfulness has rattled me slightly.

Recent news has reported that 10 people were killed while providing health care to those in need in remote areas of Afghanistan, one of which was Dr Karen Woo. She is actually a member of the blogosphere having her own blog documenting her dangerous travels while she helps those in need. I had never seen her blog before nor had I heard of her before, but after spending some time reading her blog I can already tell she was an absolutely amazing person and her death is a complete waste.

When you stop and think about it, I don't know about you but I know for me at least that it doesn't really hit me as hard as it should because, as sad as it is, we are in our modern society a little desensitized to hearing news such as this. Every day there is reports of this sort of thing, mostly in some far off distant country, but it is still real none the less.

So while we can sit here in our nice warm rooms, with our cheap electricity to power our computers, while we read our blogs with a cup of tea, I believe that taking the time to think about the world outside your own could go a long way, to acknowledge that their are amazing people doing extraordinary things for no personal benefit, living lives that can, nay should, make you stop and simply go 'wow, now that's amazing, my deepest respect and admiration goes out to you'.

We need more people like Karen Woo.

Apologies for the bleakness of this post, I just felt that sharing the memory such a great person was deserved.

05 August 2010

Woo! Super hyper right now! I just got back from playing my first game of indoor soccer! It was the absolute best fun!

For years now I have always wanted to be a part of a team sport and, like the typical old me, I just never got around to it. This year however is a completely new me where I am always up for something new and exciting. A few months back I joined a field hockey team... it was, eventful, and lasted all but 2 and a half games before... circumstances arose and I stopped playing ha...ha....

Indoor soccer has gotten me so psyched though! I am a little unfit lately due to my winter-studying for Honours-working full time hibernation but I managed to last the whole game with only semi-jelly legs running style, but just being active again reminded me of how good it feels to be fit and healthy... like I used to be last summer. And the summer before. Basically every summer until it goes down hill in time for winter haha.

And tonight I was even able to walk around in a t-shirt... a t-shirt! I have forgotten the feeling, usually the cold is so intense that not even layers is enough. This concludes to only one thing... summer is near!

My absolutely favourite time of year!

I might leave this post here before I ramble about absolutely nothing further, although I do have some pretty epic news about my dream to move to New York some day. But alas, a story for another day!

03 August 2010

Today, as the title may or may not suggest, was an awesome day. Why you may ask? Well you probably don't ask but I'll tell you anyway.

As it is Tuesday I had my class to teach, something I am enjoying immensely and am getting some great satisfaction from. This lesson makes week 4, I enjoy learning from the previous week every time and try my best to do so. I seem to be succeeding! My confidence has already grown substantially since my first week, I am able to stand up in front of them and they actually stop to listen. I feel that respect must be earned rather then demanded so it is good to see that my patience and commitment to them is paying off =)

Talking to Sophie (my awesome Honours supervisor who is one of the coolest people I have ever met in my life) was interesting today. She said a comment that made me stop and think, it has been running through my head ever since. She asked "What did you think of the movie Inception?"

"Yeah I thought it was really great actually, really well thought out. Which is surprising because I usually, even if I don't want to, critic the hell out of movies to the point where I can't enjoy a movie and instead think that most movies are plain, even if everyone else loves it."

"Oh, do you really do that? But your always such a positive person."

For some reason that statement hit me. I was literally momentarily frozen. Positive person, me?

"Huh, what? I'm lost... what?"

She chuckles a little then says "Ha ha, oh, I was just saying, you always seem to be such an optimistic and positive person and just seem to enjoy everything in life, so yeah, I was surprised to hear that you critic movies like that."

I don't know why I found that line so strange to hear. I guess despite the vast amount of time and effort spent in self reflection that I do, and the blogs that I dedicate to thinking about my life, I spend all my time thinking about my life and never about me. Me, the real me. What kind of vibe I give to the people around me. To be truthful on the inside I often feel far from positive and optimistic... rather down trodden and lost would be more accurately used.

I have been pondering about it all day now. I guess, now that it has come to my attention, that I am a rather optimistic and positive person, always laughing, planning activities (I start indoor soccer this Thursday yay), trying my very best to make people laugh or smile, always up for trying something new, 'spontaneous' my middle name if you will . In a way I am glad that that is the image that she sees of me, doubly so due to the fact that she is one of my most favourite person in the world and I look up to her greatly.

It would be nice to actually feel that way on the inside, instead I feel like such a fraud by not feeling on the inside what is apparently showing on the outside. Something to look into perhaps.

However, and I apologize here for dragging this on, another theory could just be the fact that I enjoy her company immensely and when I have great people around it really does bring the best out of me. I've noticed this for years now that no matter how bad of a day or time I am having as soon as someone who I enjoy being with is around my mood just skyrockets.

Ha, wow, and just like clockwork I remember that I actually wrote something that proves that last statement further just a few days ago.

Fate strikes again.

Maybe I should just accept the fact that my happiness will always be reliant on the people around me. Something I have expressed before, something that got proven once again today, something I have been fighting against for a long time.

01 August 2010

I am currently suffering from a terrible bout of 'Researchers Block'... which I believe is the colleague of 'Writers Block', the arch nemesis' to people everywhere who need to get words from thoughts to paper. Now obviously you could argue it is just laziness and I am procrastinating... which yes I could agree, I am always the first to admit of my procrastinating skills. Come to think of it, the first post I ever wrote on this blog was in fact about procrastinating (I laughed at that realization!).

So yes while I am thoroughly practiced in that art my worry is in the fact that this particular spell has lasted 3 weeks now... 3 weeks! It was about 2 weeks ago I was expressing (somewhat unstably) my piling workload, establishing that if there ever were to be an ideal time to procrastinate, now would definitely not be it.

I have no idea how to get around it. I have a 4000 word literature review to complete, something I promised my Honours supervisor I would have complete by last week 'at the absolute latest'. To be honest as I am sitting at my University library in the attempt to get some of it done without any of the distractions present at home, I have done a measly 510 words. Doomed I tell you!

Hmm, this isn't something new I guess. I have worked like this throughout my entire schooling and somehow every single time things just work out. Keep the faith perhaps? I worry for the day that that faith fails me haha.

Well the library is about to close, I've spent 2 and a half hours here and didn't write a single word on my research. Oh well, time to go home and continue my The Big Bang Theory marathon.

P.S Oh yeah, I seen a shooting star whilst at a party last night, pretty cool I guess. I wonder if my wish will come true.

About Me

I am mature, wise, and responsible. Hmm, scratch that. I am young, crazy and erratic. I have recently returned from 1 year spent traveling America, with travel being my biggest passion.
On this blog is anything that enters my life or mind, a running documentary of achievements, events, worries, thoughts, dreams and plans, both short and long-term.
I also love blogs.